


if someone believed me

by neenswrites



Series: KuroKen Week 2020 [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AHHH HOW MANY TROPES CAN I FIT, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Kozume Kenma is a Good Friend, M/M, Oblivious Kuroo Tetsurou, Pining Kozume Kenma, Soulmates, Werecat Kuroo Tetsurou, Witch Kozume Kenma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23720554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neenswrites/pseuds/neenswrites
Summary: “You want me to pretend to be yoursoulmate?”“See when you say it like, the plan is already sure to fail.”-Or, Kuroo comes from a long line of werecats and is the only one who still hasn’t found his soulmate. His family is about to take it upon themselves to set him up, and Kenma is too good a friend for doing this.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Series: KuroKen Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700602
Comments: 19
Kudos: 224
Collections: Kuroken Week 2020, Recommended KuroKen Fics





	if someone believed me

**Author's Note:**

> So i have literally NEVER written anything like this before in my entire life - not this genre or storytelling style or anything asdlfaldkf;a BUT i figured might as well do some experimenting with Kuroken week and I ended up really really really liking how it came out
> 
> even though i'm posting this late AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Kuroo had known this was going to be a hard sell when he'd initially come up with the idea. Kenma was the most critical person he knew, and was always weighing the pros and cons of doing just about anything that required any effort of him. And usually Kuroo was given more time to explain the benefits of his plans, but it seemed like the witch was having none of it today.

“I’m going to repeat this back to you, just to make sure you understand what you’re saying,” Kenma started slowly, as if speaking to a child. Kuroo wanted to protest the tone but figured it was probably stayed quiet. “You want me to pretend to be your _soulmate_?”

Kuroo frowned. “See when you say it like, the plan is already sure to fail.”

“I honestly cannot fathom a situation where this doesn’t fail, Kuro,” Kenma said with a sigh. He hadn’t looked up at Kuroo once since he’d walked into Kenma’s shop, and Kuroo wished his best friend would at least spare him a glance. But as it were, Kenma just continued writing in his notebook without pause.

“That’s because you’re not giving me a chance to explain it to you,” Kuroo insisted, resting his head on the counter between them to try and catch Kenma’s gaze.

“You want me to try and trick your strict, traditional werecat of a mother into thinking I’m your soulmate,” Kenma deadpanned before finally looking up at Kuroo. “Am I missing anything else?”

“No, but Kenma you’re overlooking the most important part of the plan,” Kuroo said with a smirk. At the witch’s raised eyebrows, he titled his head towards him. “You, of course.”

Kenma blinked before he turned around, and walked straight into the backroom of his shop.

And okay, maybe that wasn’t Kuroo’s best move, but he was getting desperate. There was no way he was going to pull this off unless Kenma agreed.

“Kenma,” Kuroo called as he followed him into the back. He found Kenma standing at one of his many workstations with an apron tied around his waist. There was a plant on top of the table with various potions and mixtures surrounding it, and usually Kuroo would be asking all sorts of questions about it but right now he had more pressing concerns.

“Leave,” Kenma said as he began measuring out a blue liquid from one of the bottles.

“Not until you hear me out,” Kuroo said as he pulled out a stool to sit on.

“I have heard you out,” Kenma said, pouring the potion onto the plant. Kuroo watched with wide eyes as it began to change colors. “You just don’t like what I have to say.”

“No, _you_ are just assuming I haven’t fully thought this out,” Kuroo replied, eyes still transfixed on the plant.

“Fine,” Kenma said as he transferred a red potion into a spray bottle. Kuroo’s perked up at his words. “What have you thought through?”

Kuroo grinned and placed both his hands on the table.

“So, the way I see it, all you have to do is give us a potion or a glamour that can make it look like we’re soulmates,” Kuroo said as he tried making eye contact with Kenma. “You can even pick what the marks look like.”

“Kuro, that’s not as simple as it you’re making it sound,” Kenma said as he began forcefully yanking at the leaves of his plant. Kuroo winced. “No one in the history of magic has ever been able to successfully fake a soul bond.”

“Okay, but that’s not what I’m asking you to do,” Kuroo said as he pulled Kenma’s plant away from him. He was mostly doing it to get Kenma’s attention, but he also felt bad for the poor thing. “We just need the fake marks, and we can pretend about the bond thing.”

“Haven’t you told your family about me before, though?” Kenma asked, finally looking at Kuroo fully. “Won’t it be suspicious that you _just_ realized the guy you’ve been talking to since you were a child was your soulmate?”

“Oh, I’ve already got that covered, too” Kuroo said with a grin. “I’ll just tell them that we did get our marks when we were kids, but I was too scared to tell anyone because my soulmate was a human.”

And that was honestly a valid excuse. It wasn’t like soulmates across creatures were impossible, but Kuroo himself had never met a werecat with a human soulmate. So it was definitely uncommon enough that he could imagine his younger self freaking out at the prospect. It made sense that he would have tried hiding it from his family, and then never spoke up about it again because he never knew how to bring it up.

“But if you got your soul mark when we met as kids, your mother would’ve definitely noticed it by now,” Kenma said with raised eyebrows.

“Not if we put it somewhere discrete and make it subtle,” Kuroo said with a shrug. “You know my mom is…distant, so she never would have gotten the opportunity to see it if it’s somewhere hidden.”

“Okay but what about when you transform?” Kenma asked, clearly looking for an excuse. Kuroo felt himself grin at the prospect of Kenma finally agreeing.

“I doubt they’re going to make me transform to check,” Kuroo teased, before giving a small shrug. “And even if they did, like I said, we just need to put it somewhere they wouldn’t see at first glance.”

“So just to make sure I have this all down,” Kenma said flatly, and Kuroo felt his grin fall from his face. “You want me to make us a potion or glamour the gives us fake matching soul marks that look naturally subtle in a precise, hidden location that will still be maintained after you turn?”

“…honesty a glamour probably wouldn’t work because of the whole transforming thing.”

And okay, yeah, Kuroo realized that maybe this was a lot to ask for, but it wasn’t like he was asking for this for fun! He had no other choice at this point.

“Oh my god, Kuro,” Kenma groaned as he banged his head against his table. “That sounds like so much work.”

“You’ve made more complex potions,” Kuroo argued. And Kenma had. One time. Kuroo had watched him make a potion that completely changed the gills of a mermaid into lungs _without_ changed any of the rest of her physically appearances.

Kenma had been able to buy 10 new games thanks to that client. 

“None of them included me though,” Kenma snapped, pulling Kuroo back from the memory. “Why do you even need to do this?”

Kuroo sighed and slumped his body over Kenma’s work table. He pressed his cheek against the cool wood and looked up at Kenma sadly.

“My mom is getting impatient,” he confessed with another sigh. “She wants to 'speed up' the soulmate process and start setting me up on blind dates to see if I can find my soulmate like that.”

He watched as Kenma still above him, before fixing Kuroo with a concerned gaze.

“Yeah, it doesn’t even make any sense,” Kuroo continued. “That’s not how soulmates work. I’ll meet mine when the time is right, not when my mother wants me to.”

Kuroo wished his mother would understand that - or pretty much anything else about her son.

“So, you need this done quickly too,” Kenma surmised with a frown. Kuroo pursed his lips guiltily and Kenma sighed. “How soon so you need this done, Kuro?”

Kuroo turned his head into his crossed arms and mumbled the answer.

“Tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night!” Kenma shouted. Kuroo winced. It wasn't often he heard Kenma get that loud. “You want me to come up with a potion that I’ve never made before by tomorrow night!"

“Look I know it’s last minute, but I swear I just found out about her plans and this is my only chance!” Kuroo said as he finally looked back up at Kenma. “My mom is stopping by because of a clan gathering and won’t be back for another six months. She’ll only believe me if she sees the marks in person, and tomorrow night is the only time for her to do it.”

Kenma opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the ringing of the store’s front bell. He scrunched his nose, looking back down at the plant he was in the middle of mutilating, and Kuroo stepped in.

“I’ll go see what they need, and get you if it’s something I can’t handle,” he said as he started walking towards the storefront. He stopped at the door to look back at Kenma. “Please give it some thought?”

He waited until Kenma gave him a hesitant nod, and then he made he was to the front of the store.

“Welcome to Nekoma Hearts, how can I help you – Akaashi?”

The man in question looked up to Kuroo in surprise before pursing his lips in displeasure. Kuroo sighed. Akaashi wasn’t Kuroo’s biggest fan for reasons Kuroo could not identify, and always looked at him as if he had just bitten into a particularly sour lemon.

“Hello Kuroo-san,” he said coolly as he scanned his eyes around the shop. “Is Kenma around?”

“He’s busy in the back,” Kuroo replied with a strained smile. “I can help you out if you need something small.”

Akaashi walked towards a wall of herbs and looked at Kuroo from the corner of his eye. “I do suppose you’re here often enough for that.”

Kuroo bristled but refused to let Akaashi get a rise out of him. He just forced his smile wider, and Akaashi returned his gaze to the shelf in front of him.

Kuroo stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say. He was pretty sure Akaashi wasn’t going to accept any help from him, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to just leave a customer unsupervised in Kenma’s shop. Even if Kenma said he trusted Akaashi fully, Kuroo still had his doubts.

Luckily, another customer came in looking completely exhausted, and Kuroo was more than happy to help them find what they needed. By the time he had rung them up for two potions and a charmed crystal, Akaashi was coming up to the register with an assortment of herbs and a blank expression.

“This will be all for me, thanks.”

Kuroo scanned over what he brought, and then did a double take at the bat’s wings herb and bloodroot.

“Are you doing a curse removal?” he asked as he weighed and wrapped the different ingredients. He wasn’t really trying to make small talk – mostly just wanted to check his magical knowledge – but he couldn’t hold back a grin as Akaashi raised a single impressed eyebrow.

“How did you know that?” he asked as he began placing the wrapped herbs into his tote.

“Kenma was looking into them a couple weeks for a spell he was working on,” Kuroo said happily. He thought he’d been making progress with Akaashi, until his face dropped at the sound of Kenma’s name.

“Right,” Akaashi replied, all interest wiped from his face. Kuroo sighed. “How much do I owe you?”

Kuroo read out the total, and Akaashi pulled his wallet out. As he rifled through the bills he said, “You spend all this time with Kenma because you like him, don’t you, Kuroo?” 

He handed the money over – the exact amount required – and Kuroo accepted it with a confused nod. Of course, that was why he hung out with Kenma, what other reason could there be?

Akaashi hummed consideringly, lingering in front of the register as he studied Kuroo. His eyes dropped to Kuroo’s left hand and Kuroo followed the other man's gaze to the red ring tattooed onto his own ring finger.

“Then I suppose it hasn’t crossed your mind to wonder if you were good for Kenma,” Akaashi said after a long silence. Kuroo recoiled at the words and opened his mouth to protest but Akaashi shut him up with a single look. “I do encourage you to take some time to think on it. One of you needs to, at least.”

And with that, Akaashi was walking out of the store without so much as a glance back at him.

Kuroo stared at the door for along moment before letting out an incredulous scoff. Who did Akaashi think he was? Sure, Akaashi and Kenma were able to bond over being witches, but that did not mean he had free range to judge Kenma or Kuroo.

And what did he mean asking if Kuroo was good for Kenma? He was his best friend, and there was no one he cared about more – he’d never do anything that was bad for Kenma.

Shaking his head, he made his way to the back with a frown. It only deepened when he saw Kenma sitting at his workstation, plant nowhere to be seen, and his head resting in his hands.

“Kenma?”

Kenma jerked his head at his name, and he looked at Kuroo with barely concealed surprise.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, sliding of the bench. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Are you okay?” Kuroo asked as he took a couple steps towards him.

“I think I’m going to close the shop early,” Kenma answered. Kuroo furrowed his brows at him, ready to bring up the fact that he had literally just opened, but Kenma shook his head at him. “I can’t do the soulmate thing with you, Kuro.”

Kuroo blinked in surprise.

“I’m sorry, and we can try figuring something else out,” Kenma continued as he wrapped his arms around himself. “I really need to be alone right now though, so I’ll just talk to you tonight, okay?”

Kenma didn’t even let Kuroo respond before he was making his way up the stairs in the far back corner of the workroom and walking into his apartment. The sound of the door shutting rang out through the room, leaving Kuroo standing there stunned.

What had just happened?

-

_Kenma is a lot more nervous for this than he thought he’d be._

_He peers out the door to his family’s backyard and glances back at the old grandfather clock in his living room. It’s five minutes until noon. Almost time. He pulls helplessly at the ends of his dark hair._

_Back when he thought he’d just been following a stray cat, he hadn’t thought that anything could hurt him. He’s six and even knows a couple of spells – he can handle a cat._

_Now knowing that where he’s headed contains something much more dangerous than a cat, Kenma can’t quite stop his nerves from creeping in._

_But his curiosity wins out and it manages to push him forward. Well both his desire for answers, and how friendly Kuroo had been last night._

_He takes one hesitant step onto the patio, and tenses as a large gust of wind comes and shakes the tree branches. He waits a moment more before taking another hesitant step, and then another, and then his small legs are pulling him quickly towards the back gate of his yard._

_He spares on more glance back at his house, and then walks through the gate before he can lose his nerve. Slowly, trying to carefully recall the right way to go, Kenma makes his way through the woods._

_Kenma knows it’s not a very far trek from his home. That he can back out of this at any time and leave this all behind him. He stops right before the final turn and really thinks._

_Is the risk really worth it? He doesn’t know if there’s a trap waiting, if he's been given the wrong directions, if Kuroo is really just waiting to gobble him up. Kenma takes a single step backwards before another gust of wind blows. It’s much gentler than the one from earlier, and, unbidden, an image of Kuroo smiling at him from the night before flashes in his mind._

_Right. Kuroo wouldn’t do that, he’s too kind._

_And if he tries, Kenma can handle himself. Kuroo isn’t much bigger than him, and he looked up some binding spells before leaving anyway._

_With a small nod, Kenma makes the final turn and finds himself back at the tree he’d been at yesterday. He barely has time to really take in its beauty before a small figure is dropping down from one of the high branches to land in front of Kenma._

_Kenma falls back in shock, but Kuroo doesn't seem to notice the way his heartbeat is increasing._

_“You came!” he exclaims, so excited and eager that Kenma’s fears disappear almost instantly._

_“I came,” Kenma replies softly, and Kuroo laughs loud and happy as he reaches his hand down to help pull Kenma to his feet._

_He takes it._

-

Kenma blinked rapidly as he tried to take in his surroundings. Dreaming was something that Kenm a got used to pretty quickly - or spefically, that fack that he shared dreams with Kuroo was something that he got used to pretty quickly.

Sure he had freaked out when he was a kid, but nowadays it came as easy to him as breathing.

It just sucked when Kuroo went to bed first, and got to set the dream.

Today’s dream seemed to be set in a part of the forest he’d never been to before. Everything was tinted in a light blue, and he couldn’t hold back his huff. Great. Kuroo was in a mood.

“You at least could pretend to be happy to see me!”

Kenma turned, trying to locate the source of Kuroo’s voice. It was always hard for him to get a sense of direction or depth while he was dreaming and coming into the dream after Kuroo pretty much never helped with that.

Kuroo was not making it any easier for him either.

“Stop making that face, I know my voice isn’t that annoying.”

“Kuro, stop talking!” Kenma shouted, trying not to let his annoyance overwhelm. If he did, he’d wake up and then he wouldn’t get any sleep that night.

He began wandering around, trying to go towards the clearer parts of the dream. He hated this part of dreaming – he had almost walked into three trees because they only came into focus once he was less than a meter away from them. Finally, as he was approaching a small clearing, he caught sight of Kuroo’s hair.

“Your emotions are making the dream difficult to navigate again,” Kenma said by way of greeting him. He plopped into the spot beside Kuroo and laid back on the soft grass with his eyes closed.

“Sorry if I’m feeling a little put off after today,” Kuroo snarked, and Kenma repressed a sigh.

“If you think guilting me into doing it is going to work, you might as well give up now,” Kenma replied, not bothering to open his eyes. A wave of sullenness washed over him and he let out a groan. “Please try to stop sulking. It’s giving me a headache.”

And as soon the words left his mouth, the wave vanished. Kenma opened his eyes to see the everything looking normal, the blue tint gone, Kenma able to actually focus on his surroundings, and Kuroo looking down at him with an apologetic gaze.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to make it that bad,” Kuroo said with a sigh. “But I’m not like this because you said no about the soulmate thing.”

Kenma shot him a suspicious look, and Kuroo scratched the back of his head nervously.

“Okay, so yes, I’m a little bummed about,” He conceded. “But I’m more worried about why you were acting so strange, what with closing the shop early and practically kicking me out.”

Kenma took care to not let his expression to reveal anything as he shut his eyes again. He had practiced this line many times before going to sleep, but it wouldn’t work if he had to look Kuroo in the face.

“I don’t have another plan,” Kenma said. “I knew I was going to have to tell you no, but I didn’t have another strategy for you, and I didn’t know how to deal with that.”

And while it wasn’t completely true, the statement had enough truth in it that Kenma could tell it to Kuroo without too much trouble. It had to be enough that he could tell Kuroo without too much trouble. 

Because it wasn't like Kenma could just tell him that pretending to be Kuroo’s soulmate was just too much for Kenma, considering he was in love with him and everything.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” Kuroo said, and Kenma felt a stab of guilt. “I guess this whole situation has been really getting me down, and I was feeling kind of desperate.”

“You can talk to me about it if you want,” Kenma said gently as he tugged on the end of Kuroo’s sleeve.

“Yeah if I talk about this, you’d get a migraine, at minimum,” Kuroo said bitterly. “If you thought earlier was bad, you’d hate this.”

“I only asked you to stop because I didn’t want to wake up from the headache,” Kenma said with a furrowed brow. He didn't want to make Kuroo feel like he couldn't talk to Kenma. He sat up to look at Kuroo properly and titled his head to catch his gaze. “If you want to talk, I’m here.”

Kuroo played with grass by his feet, before exhaling roughly. “It’s just, I feel like what my mom is trying to do really takes away from what a soul bond is about,” he said with a sigh. “It’s not about status, or how quickly you can find them, or anything like that. It’s about finding that person out there that you’re meant for, and who’s meant for you.”

He exhaled heavily and ran his fingers through his hair. “But that doesn’t excuse me pressuring you into any of this. And it was especially unfair of me to expect you to make me something that even hadn’t been made before in such short notice.”

Kenma bit his lip, debating whether or not he should tell Kuroo what he figured out.

“Actually…I’ve kind of come up with a way to make the potion,” Kenma admitted. Kuroo made him curious about whether or not something like it was possible, and he’d played around with the idea almost as soon as Kuroo had left. “I haven’t made it yet, it’s just a theory, and I’ll probably have Suga look over it too…”

He trailed off as Kuroo turned to look at Kenma with wide, excited eyes.

“I knew you could do it, you’re brilliant!” Kuroo exclaimed. Kenma sighed and wished Kuroo was just a little less free with his praises.

“This doesn’t mean I’m agreeing to your plan,” Kenma added pointedly. Kuroo visibly deflated, and Kenma rolled his eyes. “I only figured out the potion because you caught my interest. The plan is still reckless and ridiculous, and I have no idea why it has to be me.”

“Who else would it be?” Kuroo asked. “You’re my best friend, and probably the only person who could pull this off.”

“Best friends and soulmates are two very different things, Kuro,” Kenma said softly as he looked down at the grass. He had reminded himself of this fact many times before.

“Well yeah, but you’re as close to one as I can imagine,” Kuroo replied easily, and that hurt in a way Kenma hadn’t been prepared for. He exhaled shakily before he answered.

“But wouldn’t it make more sense for it to be someone your mother and clan had never heard of? Someone you wouldn’t have to worry about introducing them to again?”

“Kenma, as much as I hate to admit it, you’re right – this plan is a little risky.” Kuroo leaned back on his hands as he spoke, entirely too relaxed about the whole subject. “That's why it has to be you. There’s no one else I trust more to make it through something as dicey as this.”

And Kenma appreciated the sentiment, even if it did cut like a double-edged sword, but he felt like he really needed Kuroo to at least see why it was illogical for it to be him.

“Have you even thought about how this’ll play out long term?” Kenma asked gently. He knew that Kuroo was just doing this because he was a huge romantic, but he did have a tendency to let that overshadow his reason. “Am I supposed to just keep pretending to be your soulmate every time your mom stops by?”

“No, the only reason she keeps stopping by now is to keep tabs on my soulmate status,” Kuroo said bitterly. “Once that’s worked out, she’ll go back to her other clan and finally just settle there.”

Kenma frowned softly. He knew Kuroo’s relationship with his mother wasn’t great, and that it had only gotten worse when his grandparents passed away. Kenma pretty much loathed the women for everything she put Kuroo through, but he especially hated her for intervening in his love life like this when she was never around in the first place.

“What about the rest of your clan members?” Kenma said, trying to pull the conversation away from Kuroo’s mom. “They’ll be there tomorrow too, and won’t they expect to see me again?”

“Nah, I mean they’re pretty accustomed to me visiting you all the time, so I doubt they’d expect that to change,” Kuroo said with a shrug. “It’d be easy for us to keep it up until I meet my soulmate.”

Kuroo’s eyes went wide and then he looked down at Kenma with a completely devastated look.

“Oh my god, or until you meet yours of course,” Kuroo amended urgently. “Jesus, I’ve been so selfish – is the reason you don’t want to do this because you’re worried about your soulmate? I’m so sorry for trying to convince you if it is, I completely understand.”

Kenma turned in place to face Kuroo fully. Was he trying to make some sort of stupid joke?

But no, Kuroo was looking at him much too earnestly for that. Had he simply forgotten? Kenma was sure he’d told Kuroo about this already.

“Kuro,” Kenma said slowly, trying to gauge his reaction. “I don’t have a soulmate.”

Kuroo looked at Kenma incredulously.

“Just because you haven’t met your soulmate yet doesn’t mean you don’t have one,” Kuroo said like Kenma was the ridiculous one. “You’re still young, you have plenty of time to meet them and get your mark.”

“Humans don’t get physical marks,” Kenma replied, staring intently at Kuroo. He caught the moment confusion spread across Kuroo’s face, registered that it was genuine, and came to terms with the fact that he really had never told Kuroo this before.

But how had he not known this! Of course, different beings had different soulmate identifiers. It wouldn’t make sense for a gorgon to have one that revolves around their vision, or for an Iele to rely on something like first words.

But it’s not like soulmate talk was something people engaged in very often. Soulmates were a particularly tricky thing, and they didn’t always lead to the best-case scenario. Kenma himself only knew so much about them because it was part of his general training for witchcraft. He only knew the basics though; magic surrounding soulmates had never interested him much – for obvious reasons.

Clearly it wasn’t something Kuroo had ever even had to consider.

“It’s really not at all that complicated,” Kenma sighed at Kuroo continued staring. “Humans enter the world colorblind until they meet their soulmates. I was born able to see color. So, I don’t have a soulmate.”

He averted his gaze as he finished, not wanting to see this register on Kuroo’s face. It was something that Kenma had long gotten used to. He hadn’t understood it when he was young, why his parents had been so distraught when he pointed out different colors or why the doctors they took him seemed to have so much pity. And even when he started getting older, he hadn’t really seen the big deal about it. 

Yeah, sometimes when he mentioned a specific color when talking to a client or stranger, and they gushed about how lucky he was to have already found his soulmate, it stung a bit more than he’d like to admit.

But it was easy to brush them off, give some vague responses that neither confirmed nor denied the existence of a soulmate. It wasn’t that he was ashamed per se, but that he hated the looks of pity people would give him.

But overall, Kenma had gotten used to it.

Until he realized how in love he was with Kuroo.

And then suddenly it really sucked to have someone he wanted so badly, only to realize that he could never have them. Not because of any faults of their own, but because the universe had decided it so.

And that was a large part of why he was so hesitant to help Kuroo with this. Drinking a potion to give him a matching soul mark with Kuroo and then getting to know to the closest people in the world to Kuroo was so close to what he wanted that Kenma didn’t really think he could take it.

Especially since Kuroo did have a soulmate.

He hadn’t met them yet, but he did have a ring of red on the skin of his ring finger. Every werecat with a soulmate had one, and, unlike humans where 95% percent of the population had a soulmate, for werecats having a soulmate was a sign of status. Most of the rings were black, but Kuroo’s was a deep red which was even rarer, and that was a large part of the reason Kuroo’s mom was so adamant about him finding his soulmate already.

But that wasn’t why Kuroo wanted to find his. He wanted his because he was a romantic and wanted to find the person meant for him and love them as much as they would love him.

And Kuroo deserved that. Knowing him proved as much to Kenma.

“Kenma,” Kuroo breathed. Kenma chanced a glance up at him, and was surprised not to see pity, but concern written across Kuroo’s face. “I didn’t know anything about this. I never would have pressed this so hard if I did, I promise.”

Kenma studied Kuroo again. Now that he’d mentioned it, it was strange how much he had been pushing his plan.

“Why are you so against it anyway?” Kenma asked. This is something that’d been bothering him for a while, and nothing Kuroo has said really explained the lengths he was willing to go. “Sure, it’s a little less romantic, but there’s nothing wrong with you going on a few dates.”

“Because it wouldn’t just be a few dates,” Kuroo said as he turned to look out across the clearing. “Everything is about status with my mom, so she’d only be setting me up with people she thinks would look good while making sure I represented our family name well. That means more time in my realm preening and posturing and taking lessons and less time being myself and being free to go where I want.”

He looked back at Kenma with a small frown.

“Less time to be with you.”

Kenma’s breath caught in his throat. _That_ was the reason Kuroo was going to such lengths? The reason why he had barged into his shop right as it opened with this hairbrained plan? Because he didn’t want to risk having less time to spend with Kenma?

Kenma was replying before he could really think it through. “I’ll do it.”

Kuroo’s eyes widened, and Kenma could see the barely concealed hope in them. “You don’t have to. I know I was really adamant about it before, but if you don’t want to, I’m not going to hold it against you.”

“I’m not going to love it,” Kenma said pointedly. “But I can make my own choices. And I’m choosing to do this.”

A blinding smile spread across Kuroo’s face, and Kenma’s heart hiccuped in his chest.

-

_Kenma opens his eyes and the first thing that registers is something is wrong._

_The second thing that registers is the throbbing pain coming from the scratch on his arm._

_The third thing that registers is that, oh, he’s dreaming._

_Kenma sits up slowly, unable to concentrate on any of his surroundings. It’s like there's a weird fog settled over him. He tries blinking his vision into focus, but all it does is give him a headache. With a resigned sigh, Kenma decides to try focusing on his arm._

_He hadn’t anticipated getting such a deep scratch when he had followed that cat out of his grandmother’s garden that morning. Sure, his mother warns him all the time to never to go past his grandmother’s gate, but he’s not five anymore and thought the small animal had been harmless._

_Clearly it wasn’t, Kenma thinks with a scowl as he pokes at his scratch again. In fact, Kenma recalls, the cat seemed to turn from a domestic kitten to a ferocious cub right before it attacked him. Just the thought of it gives him shivers._

_Kenma prods a little more intensely at his scratch, and hisses at the pain that shoots through his arm._

_Suddenly everything around him sharpens, and he blinks rapidly at the transition. With the fog now lifted, Kenma realizes that he’s in the middle of the forest._

_The same forest he followed that cat into that morning. A feeling of unease begins to settle in the pit of Kenma’s stomach._

_Suddenly, a boy appears._

_He seems to tumble into existence, and once he balances on his feet, he looks just as confused as Kenma feels. The strange boy can’t be much older than him, and Kenma can’t help thinking that he looks familiar._

_He’s got a wild mess of hair on top of his head and striking light brown eyes. He’s blinking down at Kenma with a perplexed look on his face, and something about his expression tugs at the back of mind._

_But he thinks he would remember seeing someone like this. Whatever. It’s just a dream anyway; the boy isn't even real._

_“Wait a minute!” the boy exclaims as he pointed at Kenma. “I know you!”_

_Kenma blinks up at the boy in surprise. “You do?”_

_“Yeah, yeah,” he says eagerly. “You’re the kid who was following me around today after I snuck into that human’s garden.”_

_Kenma scrunches his nose immediately. He has never followed a random boy around in his life, and he would definitely remember if he had followed one that day. He especially thinks he would remember if he saw one in his family’s garden._

_He’s about to say just as much when a word the boy said finally registers._

_Human._

_Kenma’s eyes widen as he takes the boy again and he finally realizes why he looks so familiar. He looks exactly like the cat that had scratched him earlier today – after he had followed it out of his family’s garden._

_Kenma swallows and chances a glance down to the scratch on his arm._

_The other boy follows his eyes, and his own eyes widen as he sees the mark. He opens his mouth, and Kenma feels terror acutely make his way through his entire body._

_Kenma jumps to his feet before the other boy can say a word and starts taking a couple steps back. The boy looks absolutely crestfallen._

_“Wait, no—”_

_“You scratched me,” Kenma mumbles, grabbing his arm as if it would protect it from the other boy. “You scratched me really bad.”_

_“I didn’t mean to,” the other boy says. He takes a single step towards Kenma, and that’s all he needs before he tries to bolt._

_Kenma turns from the boy and runs, but the boy jumps on his back with amazing reflexes – because he’s a freaking cat – and sits on Kenma to pin him. Kenma does not take to this lightly. He begins kick and swinging his fist, and shouting, he can hear the boy attempting to say things to him, but he doesn’t care at all._

_“Why are you in my dream?” he demands, as he continues trying buck the boy off of him. Was he following him? Was Kenma cursed?_

_“It’s because I scratched you!” the boy shouts. Kenma stills and turns his head to stare at the boy in confusion. The boy looks stunned that Kenma finally stopped fighting him, but he begins speaking again after a short moment._

_“We’re sharing the dream because I scratched you,” the boy repeats. “You’re a witch, right?”_

_Kenma narrows his eyes. His mother says that he shouldn’t tell anyone about his ability…but if this can explain this whole situation he's in, then he’s willing to share._

_“Yeah,” he replies cautiously. “I’m learning to be one, at least.”_

_“So, then that’s why,” Kuroo says with a nod. “I scratched you by accident, and you’re magic, so now we share dreams.”_

_A beat of silence._

_“Okay. Can you please get off of me now?”_

_“Oh, right sorry,” the boy says as he scrambles off Kenma’s back. Kenma rolls over and sits up to fix the boy with a distrusting stare. “So, what’s your name? My name is Kuroo.”_

_Kenma thinks Kuroo is taking this much too lightly. Maybe he scratches a lot of witches, so this is a regular occurrence for him. Kenma grimaces at the thought. Are his dreams about to get more crowded?_

_“…Kenma,” he replies cautiously. At least with just his first name, he won’t be able to trace him back to his family. He pauses, before hesitantly asking, “Does this happen to you a lot?”_

_“Nope,” Kuroo replies with a pop to the ‘P’. Kenma widens his eyes at him. “I never even met anyone who wasn’t a werecat until today.”_

_“Then how are you being so calm about this?” Kenma stresses. Kuroo tilts his head at him, and Kenma feels like he’s missing something._

_“I mean, this is really cool right. It’s like we’re dream friends or something,” he replies. At Kenma’s bewildered look, he suddenly drops his gaze and begins pulling at the grass by his knees. “I mean, unless you don’t want to be.”_

_And, oh, Kenma’s never had a dream friend before. He’s never even had a real friend really._

_“We can be friends,” Kenma finds himself softly answering._

_Kuroo’s responding beam is blinding._

_-_

“This is the dumbest things you’ve ever told me.”

“Yes, yes, I’m aware of that,” Kenma said into his phone as he stirred the mixture in the pot for five minutes counterclockwise. “I’m not asking about that. I’m asking if you think it’ll work.”

“Kenma, you are one of the most brilliant people I know,” Suga replied with sigh. “You have to know this isn’t a good idea.”

“So, do I leave it to chill for two hours or not?” Kenma asked as he looked around for the flasks. He did not need Suga reminding him of what he had already come to terms with.

“…Yes, it’ll strengthen the brew and make the effects last longer,” Suga replied, resigned. He clicked his tongue, and said in flatter tone, “I’m now starting to see why Akaashi feels so…strongly about Kuroo’s place in your life.”

“Akaashi needs to learn to mind his own business,” Kenma replied tightly. “I think everyone could learn to do that actually. Once you all have your lives completely sorted out, please feel free to come lecture me on mine.”

Kenma finally found the flasks underneath an extra hand towel and began carefully siphoning the mixture from the pot into said flasks as Suga continued to say nothing.

Not that he minded immensely. He’d called to get some confirmation on the finer details on the potion, not to have someone reprimand him about decisions he already knew were bad.

“We just worry,” Suga said after some time. Kenma grunted in response as he finally filled each flask to the necessary amount and began placing them in the fridge. “Kenma, how long have you been up for?”

Kenma paused at that. He glanced at the clock in his kitchen and grimaced when he saw the time. There was no way he was telling Suga he’d been up for the past 13 hours.

“Not long,” he replied as he took a deep breath of relief. He’d finally finished the ridiculously long potion after waking up at 3 am. He’d tried falling back asleep, to no avail, and figured it was for the best. The potion had needed many long and convoluted steps, and Kenma was glad he’d started as early as he did.

“Yes, that’s definitely the voice of someone who’s gotten a full night’s rest,” Suga said sarcastically. Kenma opened his mouth to snark back but was betrayed by his own body as a yawn escaped him.

“Fine,” Kenma said before Suga could say anything. “I’m a little sleep deprived. I’ll take a nap.”

“Right,” Suga replied lightly. “Nap before you go into a werecat den with intention of deceiving them.”

“You know, I called you because I thought you’d give me less shit than Akaashi or Oikawa,” Kenma sighed as he began to drag himself to his room. “Next time I’ll just call your little apprentice instead.”

“And here I thought you were calling me for my incredible expertise in potions,” Suga said with a laugh. His tone went teasing as he continued, “And don’t lie to me, I know my apprentice scares you.”

“Anyone that Oikawa says is too much for him to handle should scare the world,” Kenma muttered. He let out a deep sigh as he collapsed on his bed, and another yawn escaped him. “I’m going to sleep now, thanks for the help I guess.”

“Please keep us updated so we know you weren’t mauled alive,” Suga joked, but his tone was a just a touch too serious for Kenma. He mumbled his assent, set an alarm for two hours, and pulled his blanket high over his head.

Kenma honestly wasn't sure if he preferred dreaming with or without Kuroo. It didn't happen often since they both usually asleep at the same time, but in instances like this where Kenma napped while Kuroo was off doing who knows what, he was left to his own devices.

He also couldn't remember his dreams when he dreamt alone. They were usually faceless and blurry, Kenma left only with impressions of emotions more than anything else. But it was technically more peaceful to be left to simply sleep and do nothing more. Those were Kenma's last thoughts before he finally succumbed to sleep.

He woke up two hours later to the sound of his alarm and regretted setting one immediately. He felt even more tired than before, and he groggily sat up and tried to decide if more sleep was worth possibly messing up the potion he’d just taken over half a day to make.

Probably not.

Pulling himself out of bed, Kenma dragged his feet to the fridge and was taking the flasks out when he heard a loud knock on his door. He glanced at the time, and grimaced when he realized how late it was. Kuroo was going to be upset.

He called out a loud, “Come in,” as he began grabbing the final ingredients for the potion, and Kuroo entered his home complaining, as per usual.

“Kenma, how many times do I have to tell you to lock your door!” Kuroo said as he walked into the kitchen before pausing at the sight of Kenma. “You’re not dressed at all!”

“No, I’ve been too busy worrying about the life-threatening part of the plan to worry about how I looked,’ Kenma snarked, trying not to stare too much at how nice Kuroo looked in his fitted blazer, “I’ve never been to anything like this before, so go pick me something to wear.”

Kuroo perked up at the request, and practically bolted to Kenma's room. Kenma rolled his eyes. By the time he was finishing the potion, Kuroo was coming back to the kitchen to declare that he had the perfect outfit picked. Kenma left back into his room, after commanding Kuroo to keep an eye on the potion, and quickly slipped into the clothes he wasn’t even aware he owned.

When he went back out and took a second look at Kuroo, he scowled.

“You made us match,” Kenma accused looking between Kuroo’s red button down, and his own red turtleneck.

“Well, yeah, we’re soulmates,” he teased, and wow one minute in and Kenma was already regretting his decision. Incredible.

“Let’s just take the potion,” he said flatly, pulling out to the measurements he’d poured earlier. Handing the larger one to Kuroo, he didn’t even wait before tilting his head back and knocking it back. The faster he could get this over with the better.

His lips puckered at the taste, and his entire face and neck felt warm all over, but other than that he didn’t feel any different.

“Did it work?” Kuroo asked, smacking his lips after taking his own portion. Kenma shrugged and pulled his hair back.

“Check for yourself.”

Kuroo made an intrigued noise and stepped closer to Kenma, He pointed to the area behind his ear, and Kuroo gently grabbed his jaw to tilt his head and get a better look.

“Incredible,” Kuroo breathed as he brushed his thumb against the mark, and Kenma was so grateful the potion had already caused his skin to look flushed. Kuroo leaned back with excitement in his eyes. “Kenma, you’re incredible.”

“Let me check yours to make sure they both turned out right,” Kenma replied, pulling Kuroo down by shoulders. He brushed his hair out of the way and smiled when he saw the mark placed exactly where he intended it.

“1:1:1,’ Kuroo said with a small smile as Kenma pulled away from him. “For our birthdays.”

“It’s subtle and could easily be covered by all the hair that exists on your head even when you transform,” Kenma replied quickly. Kuroo opened his mouth to say something more, but Kenma interrupted him. “These will last 8 hours if we’re lucky. We should leave now just to be safe.”

He turned before Kuroo could say anything, grabbing his coat and making his way to the conveyance circle he had drawn in the corner of the room.

“Are you nervous?” Kuroo asked as he stepped into the circle warily. Kenma knew this wasn’t Kuroo’s favorite mode of transportation, but this was the fastest option.

“Should I be?” Kenma asked, eyes looking up into Kuroo’s.

Kuroo's lips parted, but then he was looking down at Kenma with determination. “No. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Kenma gave a quick nod, and then he chanted the spell to activate the circle. He felt a tight pull to his gut, and then before he could even blink, he was standing in front of the large cedar tree from all those years ago.

“You’ve gotten better at that,” Kuroo said, though he did sound a bit out of breath. He grabbed Kenma by the hand and began pulling him towards the center of the tree. Kenma knew how this worked from Kuroo’s many explanations, but it didn’t stop him from clenching his eyes shut as they walked through the bark and into the realm where his clan lived.

Once the feeling of something cold stop washing over him, Kenma opened his eyes and gaped at everything around him. He wasn’t sure exactly how it worked – the magic of werecats was ancient and untouched and it intimidated Kenma to his core – but he wished he knew how they were able to hide what felt like a small town in the trunk of a tree. There were buildings of all shapes and sizes covered in plants, people and cats of a variety of species littered around, and all sorts of sources of floating sources of light everywhere.

Kuroo tugged insistently on his hand, and Kenma dragged his eyes away from the sights. “Come on, it’s right over here.”

Kenma let Kuroo lead him towards a tall building to his right and was surprised when he entered it and realized it was some sort of hotel. Kuroo read the look on his face and snorted.

“Humans aren’t the only ones to come up with things like hotels,” he teased, and Kenma ducked his head to cover his flush. “We’ve also got bathrooms and markets in case you were wondering.”

Kenma shot him a glare, but Kuroo just laughed in response. Going down a long hall, they sopped once they found themselves outside a reception hall. Kenma looked up to Kuroo expectantly, but he was just staring at the doors.

“Okay, so like I said before, I already broke the news to my clan this morning,” Kuroo said, though it sounded like it was more for his benefit than anything else. “They were surprised, and some were a little skeptical, but there weren’t any negative reactions. They aren’t going to interrogate you here, and all we need is an opportunity to show off the marks.”

Kenma nodded, not quite able to find his voice, and with a deep breath, Kuroo opened the door.

Kuroo talked a lot about his clan, but Kenma had only ever met one of their members before. Like most werecat clans, they weren’t fond of the human world - for many understandable reasons. Still, knowing that made Kenma feel even more tense than he usually was around crowds. 

Kenma tilted his head down as he noticed people turn to look at him. He knew they were just curious, that part of the reason Kuroo had chosen to leave the clan he was born into was because of how welcoming everyone in the room was, but it didn’t stop him from being nearly consumed by his nerves.

He felt grateful when he noticed Kuroo leading them to the only other familiar face in the room.

“Yaku,” Kuroo called as he approached the other man. Yaku was talking with two other people who turned to look at Kuroo and Kenma as they came up. “You know Kenma already. Kai, Yamamoto, this is who I’ve been telling you about.”

“The worldwide famous Kenma,” Yamamoto said with a grin. “I’m honored to finally meet you - though I do have to admit I’m surprised you’re not made of actual gold with the way Kuroo talks about you.”

“Enough, Tora,” Kai said with a sigh. He kindly smiled at Kenma and said, “It’s good to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Kenma responded lowly.

“Has my mother arrived yet?” Kuroo asked Kai, and he shook his head apologetically. Kuroo huffed a breath as his lips turned down. “Shouldn’t have expected her to come on time anyway.”

Kenma watched as Kai opened his mouth with a look of concern on his face, but he was interrupted by a loud booming voice.

“This is Kenma?” an overwhelmingly tall person asked as he came up to them. Kenma did not at all care for the way he had to crane his neck to look up to him. He had a bright smile on his face, but his eyes held too much curiosity for Kenma to be comfortable with. “He’s so pretty!”

Kenma immediately blushed, and Kuroo let out a forced chuckle at his side. 

“Okay, Lev—”

“Can I see your mark now!” Lev interrupted. Yaku kicked him as he scolded him about tact, but Kenma found himself grateful for the excuse. The sooner they showed off the better.

Kenma silently lifted his hair up and turned his head so that the mark was in full view of everyone in the circle. He felt himself blush as everyone leaned in to get a look, and he desperately wished he’d let Kuroo show off first.

“What does it mean?” Kai asked with a tilt to his head.

“We think it stands for our birthdays,” Kuroo replied, pulling everyone’s attention back to him. Kenma sighed gratefully as he turned his head to show his friends his, “We were born one year, one month, and one day apart.”

“Sounds like you didn’t even need the marks to know you were soulmates,” Yamamoto said with a laugh, and Kenma felt his stomach plummet.

“Uh, yeah, I guess not,” Kuroo replied awkwardly. He cleared his throat, but Kai was intervening before he could speak.

“Kuroo, I actually need steal you away for a moment,” he started apologetically. “I just figured it was best to talk business now, before the gathering gets too crazy.”

Kuroo looked worriedly at Kenma, but he just shook his head. “Go get me a drink, I’ll stay here with Yaku.”

Kuroo smiled gratefully, and Kenma watched as he let Kai direct him to where the refreshments were. His line of sight was soon interrupted by the tall werecat.

“I’m Lev,” the man said, introducing himself. Unfortunately, he continued, “I never met a witch before, but I have met a siren – are you guys similar? Why is this your first time here, you know Kuroo-san talks about you all the time, and there’s lots to do—”

“Yamamoto," Yaku said pointedly. 

“On it,” Yamamoto replied as he began pulling on Lev’s arm. “You want to talk to Kenma? Let’s get him sweets – Kuroo said he liked them, remember?”

Lev perked up and began practically dragging Yamamoto away. Yaku used the opportunity to pull Kenma towards the outskirts of the crowd, and Kenma shot him a grateful look.

“I know it can be a lot, but I am glad to see you again,” Yaku said with a small smile. “It really has been too long.”

“Your welcome at my shop whenever you like,” Kenma said with a small tug of the lips. “Not just when you’re on the verge of losing a limb”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Yaku laughed as he joined Kenma in looking out into the crowd. A comfortable silence fell over them, and Kenma thought that the evening probably wouldn’t go as badly as he’d worried about before.

“So,” Yaku drawled as he moved to stand closer to Kenma. Kenma raised a brow at him. “How did Kuroo convince you to go through with all of this?”

And of course, it was too good to be true. But Kenma trusted Yaku for the sole reason that Kuroo trusted him to be left alone with Kenma.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kenma replied easily. “And if I did, I wouldn’t be talking about it in present company.”

Yaku hummed, and Kenma kept his eyes trained on the crowd despite the fact that Yaku seemed intent on staring him down.

“Your very brave to have done this,” Yaku said gently. Kenma let out a soft scoff.

“I’m not brave at all.”

“It takes a lot of courage to bring yourself somewhere like this, knowing what the consequences could be,” Yaku replied encouragingly, but Kenma just shook his head. He frowned at the action and continue, “You don’t need to sell yourself short on this.”

“It’s not that,” Kenma said, looking across the room to Kuroo. “I’m not doing this out of courage. Kuroo…regardless of what you think we’re doing, he means more to me than anything in the world and I know he’d never put me in danger. I’m doing this because Kuroo said he’d keep me safe and I trust that.” He turned back to look at Yaku with a small, bittersweet smile. “I trust him.”

“Kenma…” Yaku started slowly, and Kenma immediately tensed at his knowing tone.

“Yaku—”

“You really are in love with him,” he breathed.

Kenma immediately felt his heart begin to race as he looked to turn to Yaku in horror. Yaku knew. Yaku knew from talking to Kenma for less than a minute, and he was probably going to tell Kuroo. Kuroo was going to find out that Kenma was in love with him, and there was no way for him to deny it, and he was going to lose his best friend because he couldn’t get a hold of his feelings.

“Kenma, take deep breaths,” Yaku said, and Kenma blinked rapidly as he realized how rapidly he was breathing. He finally noticed that Yaku had dragged him into a quiet corner of the room and was looking at Kenma with concern. “Whatever you think I’m going to do isn’t going to happen, okay?”

“You’re not,” and Kenma winced at how raspy his voice sounded. He cleared his throat and started again, “You’re not going to tell him?”

“Oh my god, no, Kenma,” Yaku said emphatically. “I would never do that, I promise.”

Kenma felt his heart start to calm, but it picked back up again as he remembered how clickly Yaku realized his feelings.

“How did you even figure it out?” Kenma asked, running his hand thourgh his hair.

“…I mean, I figured you had to care about him to some extent to go through this ridiculous plan,” Yaku said with a small smile. “And then the way you talked about him…”

And was that it? Was that all it took for someone to realize how helpless he was about Kuroo? How long would it be until the other people realized, until Kuroo himself realized?

Kenme felt his heart rate quicken again, and he took a couple steps back from Yaku.

“I need to – I’m going to go outside,” he said shakily as he spotted a door in the back of the room. “Please, please don’t follow me, I just – I need to be alone for a little while.”

Kenma walked away before Yaku could stop him, and made a beeline to the door. He took a deep breath of air as he opened the door, barely even taking in the huge courtyard it lead to, and simply collapsing on the large stone bench placed a few steps away.

Kenma had been deluding himself when he’d thought he could do this. He figured he’d treat it as some sort of fantasy, a guilty little way for him to pretend. But all this had done was remind Kenma of how much Kuroo meant to him, and how much that fell short of what he meant to Kuroo.

And he could walk around and play the part, but that didn’t change the fact that at the end of the day, Kenma would be hopelessly in love with Kuroo and Kuroo would never look at him the way he would look at his soulmate.

Kenma felt water start to gather in his eyes, and before he knew it tears were pouring down his cheeks. He tried taking a shuddering breath to calm himself down, but all it did was cause even more tears to fall. He hiccuped once, and in that moment, the door he’d just walked through swung open.

“Kenma,” Kuroo said in relief but Kenma couldn’t bear to face him. He listened as Kuroo’s steps came closer and closed his eyes at the quiet gasp Kuroo let out when he finally gets view of his face. “Oh, Kenma, what’s wrong? Wait, what happened?”

Kenma just shook his head, and a sob raked his body when he felt Kuroo’s hands gently cup his face.

“Please talk to me,” Kuroo gently requested. “I saw you practically running out of there, and came as soon as I could, but I wasn’t expecting this.”

“I-I have to go,” Kenma stuttered through his tears as he finally opened his eyes to Kuroo. It was hard to make him out through the tears, but there was no concealing the worry all over his face.

Kuroo studied him for a moment before nodding resolutely. “Okay, then let’s go.”

“No, Kuro,” Kenma said as he pulled his face away from his grasp. Kuroo looked shocked by both the actions and words, and Kenma slid off the bench to turn away from him. “Just me. You stay here and convince your mom of everything.”

“Kenma, if you think I’m letting you go like this, then you’re not nearly as smart as I thought,” Kuroo replied, trying to grab Kenma’s arm. Kenma pulled away from him again, and this time Kuroo looked hurt instead of shocked.

“I was never as smart as you thought I was,” Kenma replied. He took a couple more steps back from Kuroo, and before Kuroo could make another move, recited a spell he’d only had memorized for emergencies.

A second later he was gone.

-

_Kenma feels bored out of his mind as he lays down in his grandmother’s garden. He’s supposed to be ‘getting in tune’ with his magic, and apparently that means no playing video games. And usually he likes his magic lessons with his mother, but this one doesn’t even make sense._

_He doesn’t even like being outside that much._

_He rolls over on his stomach and starts to pick at the grass before he notices movement out of the corner of his eyes. He raises his head up a little and catches as a black tail peaks up from his grandmother’s flowers. He pushes himself up even higher and is delighted to see a small cat sniffing its way through her garden._

_He stays propped up on his arms studying the cat until his arms get sore, and then he moves to sit back on his heels. As he’s shifting, the cat’s head turns to him and Kenma freezes._

_He remains frozen as the cat continues to stare at him and takes the time to really take in the cat. It’s completely black all over, with a weird tuff of hair between its ears. From this angle, he can see the cat is smaller than he thought it’d be. Not quite a kitten, but not quite an adult cat. And its eyes are a brilliant light brown and still trained on him._

_The cat slowly begins to move away, thought it keeps glancing back at Kenma every so often. Kenma follows it with his eyes until it makes its way out of the flowers and slips through the space between the metal bars of the fence. It looks back at Kenma one last time before continuing further into the forest._

_Kenma knows the smart thing to do would be to leave the cat alone and stay where his mother had left him. She’s warned him many times not to step one foot outside of his grandmother’s yard and explained the many dangers that would await him if he didn’t listen._

_Still Kenma finds himself standing up and making his way towards the gate. He clenches his fist around the handle and looks out into the forest._

_If he can see the cat, he’ll go. If he can’t, he’ll go back inside._

_No sooner had thought pass does Kenma see the cat pop its head up from behind a small bush. It looks up at Kenma, tilts its head, and begin walking deeper into the forest. Kenma gasps quietly, and before he can think twice of it, he’s opening the gate and following after the cat._

_He isn’t sure how deep the cat intends to lead him, so he begins murmuring a spell his mother had taught him. Slowly, flowers begin blooming along the trail, and he feels himself relax – he’ll be able to follow them home no matter how far he goes._

_He continues reciting the spell, but his attention is almost broken by the reaction of the cat. It bounds toward every other new flower grown, never crushing it but jumping just close enough that it almost does. Kenma lets out a small giggle and the cat stops and looks back at him again._

_Kenma stops too._

_The cat studies him for a beat more before it’s making a sharp turn. Kenma nearly trips over his feet in his attempt to follow him, and gapes as he stumbles into a small clearing with the largest tree he’s ever seen in his life._

_He cranes his head back, trying to see the top of it, and completely misses when the cat comes to sit in front of him. It isn’t until it begins insistently nosing at his leg that he finally looks down._

_“Oh, you’re here,” Kenma says as he crouches before the cat. He scratches under its chin and smiles as it purrs. “This is a really pretty tree.”_

_The cat paws at Kenma’s hand, trying to get him to do something, but Kenma’s eye catches a flash of red on its left paw. Thinking he may have something stuck, or might even be bleeding, Kenma reaches toward it._

_Before he can even blink, the purr changes to a snarl, and the cat is scratching Kenma with claws he hadn’t noticed before. Kenma yelps at the sting and falls back in fear. The cat looks at Kenma with wide eyes, but the moment it tries to take a step towards him, Kenma is bolting away._

_He runs the entire way home, his arm throbbing painfully the entire time._

_-_

Kuroo watched the spot where Kenma had disappeared from for a long time. He wasn’t quite sure how to name the feeling in his chest, but he knew that he hated it. Finally, he realized he had to go back to the gathering, and he made his way back inside.

As soon as he made it through the door, Yaku was on him.

“Where’s Kenma?” he demanded, peering around Kuroo as if he was hiding the witch from him.

“He left,” Kuroo replied hollowly. “He just…vanished into thin air.”

“And you just let him go!”

“You think that if I knew where he went, I’d still be here right now,” Kuroo snapped. He tugged helplessly at his hair as he glanced back at the courtyard. “Fuck, I didn’t even know he could travel without a conveyance circle; I have no idea where he could’ve ended up.”

Yaku seemed to deflate and Kuroo’s distress, and he crossed his arms.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m just worried is all,” Yaku said with a sigh. “I just don’t think he should be alone with the state he’s in.”

“Yeah I agree, I—” and then Kuroo paused because how did Yaku know the state Kenma was in. He narrowed his eyes at his friend, and immediately caught when he tensed.

“Yaku,” Kuroo said lowly. “What do you know?”

Yaku opened his mouth, though Kuroo doubted it was to give him an honest answer, but he was interrupted by Kai calling Kuroo’s name.

“Kuroo,” the man repeated, and Kuroo whirled to glare at the interruption. He was stopped cold by the strained expression on his face and the woman standing behind him. “Your mother is here.”

Kuroo wished he knew what he’d done in a past life to have his luck to end up so shitty.

“Mother,” he greeted stiffly, and she merely raised her eyebrows.

“We need to talk,” was the only thing she said before she was walking past Kuroo and through the doors to the courtyard – where Kuroo had already screwed up an important conversation. Fantastic.

He let out a heavy sigh and ignored his friends’ encouraging smiles as he turned around and made his way back outside. Luckily, his mother was standing and not sitting on the bench. He didn’t think he’d be able to handle the imagery again.

“So, let me see it,” she said when he walked up to her. He looked at her blankly and she rolled her eyes. “Let me see the mark, Tetsurou.”

Kuroo narrowed his eyes at the use of his name, but obediently turned his head regardless. He felt his mother press her nail into the skin right below where the mark should be and felt himself get defensive over it. Just before he was about to snap at her, she pulled her hand back with a sigh.

“I’m not going to pretend like I know exactly how you did it,” she began, and her cold tone sent shivers down Kuroo’s spine. “But I know your mark is fake.”

Kuroo felt panic seize at his chest, but he refues to show it. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know what possessed you to come up with this ridiculous plan,” she continued as if Kuroo hadn’t spoken. “But I’m insulted you thought I wouldn’t know. I’m your mother – of course I’d know if you had gotten your mark over a decade ago. Not to mentiont—”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I insulted you by thinking you wouldn’t know,” Kuroo exclaimed, not wanting to listen to another word from his mother. “It’s just with the whole never being around when I was growing up, and the lack of care for my general state of happiness, I just figured it was natural to assume you wouldn’t have noticed something like this.”

“I used to brush your hair back into ponytails for you before you went to play with that friend of yours,” his mother said tonelessly, and Kuroo stilled at the memory. “Back when you refused to cut it because you wanted impress him. I would’ve remembered seeing a mark behind your ear then.”

Kuroo shut his eyes in defeat and resisted the urge to groan. How could he not have remembered something like that?

“I don’t know why you’re behaving this way, but I will not tolerate your blatant disrespect,” his mother said lowly. “I have provided you with opportunities and good standing. It is what my mother did for me, and the only way I know to raise you.”

“This is the only way?” Kuroo cried out. “You want to know why I did this? Because the idea of having to sit through countless match ups for you to spread your influence, all under the guise of looking for my soulmate, was so awful that I figured I’d rather risk any consequences of this plan.”

His mother looked at him with wide eyes. “ _That_ was the reason you behaved so recklessly?”

“Yes!” Kuroo exploded. “Because I don’t want that life! I want to meet the person I love when it’s the right time, I want to get to know them, and fall in love with them, and show them how much I love them every day. I want to spend all my time by their side, and take care of them when they’re hurt, and I want—”

And completely unbidden, the face Kenma had made when he’d been crying on the bench popped into his head.

“I want…”

Kenma, when he’d looked practically war torn as Kuroo walked into his apartment.

“I…want…”

Kenma, every day and every night, by his side.

“Get that look off your face,” Kuroo’s mother hissed. Kuroo looked back at her to see a truly terrifying scowl on her face. “You have a soulmate, and we’re both well aware that boy is not it.”

“So what if he’s not,” Kuroo replied immediately, unsure of how his mother knew hwas thinking of Knema, but not bothering to deny anything. He felt like everything was finally lining and starting to make sense. As long as he had Kenma he was fine. “Maybe I don’t care anymore. Maybe I don’t want to be some tool for you.”

“Tetsurou you don’t have it in you,” she said, and Kuroo felt anger boil in his blood. “Not because of whatever you feel for him. But because you would never turn your back on the person you already know is tied to you.”

She looked down pointedly to the red ring around his finger, and he felt his entire body go cold. Because as much as he hated his mother, she was right. He knew he felt something for Kenma, something that went deeper than anything he’d ever felt in his life.

But to just abandon his soulmate like that? He wasn’t sure he could do it.

“I’m leaving in the morning,” his mother said as she began walking towards the door. “If you don’t want me around, fine. I won’t return unless you call. But, Tetsurou,” and she paused until Kuroo turned to look at her. “I do suggest you figure this all out sooner rather than later. I noticed the boy isn’t around – I can’t imagine how many more people are going to get hurt due to your indecision.”

And with that, Kuroo was left alone in the courtyard for the second time that night.

**Author's Note:**

> me reading werecat lore from a variety of different cultures: i’ll take everything, thanks 
> 
> CAN YOU BELIEVE THERE’S MORE
> 
> like days 4 and 5, Days 6 and 7 are going to occur in the same universe! so keep your eyes open for the sequel ASAP! AGAIN IM SORRY THIS IS LATE!!!
> 
> ALSO here is my [twitter](https://twitter.com/neenswrites)  
> pls come say hi!


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